Fashion Maven Dies FRONT ROW At NY Fashion Week!

First of all, rest in peace to Zelda Kaplan and condolences to her friends and family. However, at 95 years old, I not only think she lived quite a full life but going out front row at NY Fashion Week being the fashion maven that she is?!?! And making front page for it?! I think she went out the absolute best way she could have ever imagined! Get the details on Zelda below. Enjoy the runway in the sky, Ms. Kaplan!

Marisa Mendez

(NY Post) – Beloved club and fashion maven Zelda Kaplan died after collapsing in the front row at Fashion Week yesterday at age 95.

Kaplan, New York’s oldest and most beloved night owl and the woman who could famously “out-party even Paris Hilton,” collapsed at the Joanna Mastroianni show at The Studio at Lincoln Center.

Witnesses said the socialite “slumped forward” as the second model came out on the runway, and she was carried out and given CPR by paramedics. An ambulance rushed her to the hospital, but she couldn’t be revived.

Her death left attendees devastated. One told us, “Zelda passed away, right there, in the front row. Security carried her out, but the show just carried on. Everybody is distraught.”
A statement released by her friends yesterday read, “Zelda Kaplan passed away suddenly today at the age of 95 from natural causes . . . She will be deeply missed and always loved.”

Zelda, famed for her African outfits, dramatic hats and large sunglasses, was a club fixture right up to her death. She was at the opening of new XL last month, where she was photographed with Lance Bass and designer/stylist Indashio. Her close friends include fashion exec Keri Ingvarsson, stylist Mia Morgan, artist Andres Serrano and Richie Rich.

After moving here from New Jersey in the 1960s, Zelda became a party and fashion-world fixture, but also made regular visits to Africa to work on human rights issues.

She told The Post in 2010, “I wish more people would have [clothes] made for them. But so many Americans want to look like everybody else . . . I hate to wear what everybody else is wearing . . . I don’t think people should be happy to be a clone.”

Richie Rich told us, “Passing away in the front row was how it was meant to be. Zelda loves fashion, so she died for fashion. She would have wanted to go out in style. Zelda always said, ‘Live, live, live and have fun’ . . . I hope the angels are holding her right now.”